McKINNEY NAMED THE BIG SKY MEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK....AGAIN

Jan 26, 2015

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- After a monster week in which he led Sacramento State to a pair of road wins at Idaho State and Weber State, Hornet senior guard Mikh McKinney was named the Big Sky Conference's co-Men's Basketball Player of the Week today. He shared this week's award with Eastern Washington guard Tyler Harvey.

It marks the second straight week, and school-record third time this season (Dec. 15) that McKinney has earned the honor. In addition, the Union City, Calif., native, now has five career Big Sky weekly honors under his belt, also a program best. Sacramento State is currently 13-6 overall, 7-1 in the Big Sky, and sits all alone atop the conference standings.

The third-year senior and team co-captain averaged 28.5 points, 6.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 39.0 minutes per game while shooting .621 (18-29) from the field, .615 (8-13) from the 3-point line and .765 (13-17) from the free throw line. Amazingly, McKinney, who often runs the point, had just one turnover in 78 total minutes, good for a 12-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He set or matched single-game career highs in points (33) and 3-pointers made (5). Of his 57 total points during the week, 41 came in the second half.

In the Hornets' 78-71 win at Weber State on Saturday, just the second victory in school history in Ogden, McKinney played all 40 minutes of the game while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor, 5-of-7 from the 3-point line and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He had a career-high 33 points, a game-high seven assists with zero turnovers and a steal. McKinney put on a shooting display in the second half, going 8-of-9 from the floor, 5-of-5 from the 3-point line and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He scored 27 of the Hornets' 41 points in the second half, and 19 of the team's final 22 points. Over the final 10:42, he went 5-of-5 from the field, 3-of-3 from distance and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He buried late 3-pointers at the 4:01, 2:19, and 0:53 marks, the last of which came after he pulled an offensive rebound.

In Thursday's 62-59 win at Idaho State, McKinney finished with a game-high 24 points as no other player on the floor was within eight points of his final output. He shot 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-6 from distance and 5-for-7 from the free throw line. He was the only Hornet to hit a 3-pointer and 14 of his points came in the second half. He also added a game-high tying five assists with just one turnover in 38 minutes played.

For the season, McKinney is now averaging 18.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.7 steals and 35.9 minutes per game. He has a 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and is shooting .543 (126-232) from the field, .413 (31-75) from the 3-point line and .767 (56-73) from the free throw line. His scoring average is the second best in the Big Sky, and his scoring average against conference opposition (20.3 ppg) also ranks second. He has now gone over the 30-point plateau three times this season, and the 20-point plateau on eight occasions.

Sacramento State returns to action this week for a pair of home games on Thursday against Montana State and Saturday vs. Montana. Both games will tip at 7:05 p.m. The Hornets are 8-1 at home this year, including 4-0 against Big Sky competition.